Reversible door cabinet



Nov'. 3, 1964 r R. MEILINGER 3,155,443

' REVERSIBLE DOOR CABINET Filed July 18. 1960 INVENTOR. RaymondMei/Inger ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,155,443 REVERSTBLE EQLURCABINET Raymond Meilinger, Denver, field, assignor to Meiiinger FixturesCompany, lino, iltenver, Colo a corporation of Colorado Filed arriy 1%,i960, Ser. No. 43,634 4 Claims. (53?. 312-329) This invention isdirected to reversible-door cabinets, and more particularly to cabinets,the doors of which may be rapidly and easily secured to, or removed fromand reversed in, a cabinet Without the aid of special tools and thelike.

This invention is directed to improvements in the reversible doorcabinets disclosed in co-pending application Cabinet Hinge, Serial No.731,442, filed April 28, 1958 now Patent No. 2,999,269 granted September12, 1961. The hinge described in said application is made essentially intwo major assemblies, one of which includes the hinge pivot or pintleand is arranged to be attached to a cabinet, the other of which isarranged to be mounted on the door and it includes releasable means forsecuring the door to the cabinet. After mounting each of the assemblies,the door may be readily positioned on the hinges ready for operation.The hinge is semi-hidden in that the major portion of it is hidden whenthe door is closed. The hinge is preferably for flush door cabinetshiding all but the pivot part of the hinge. The hinge is, furthermore,so arranged that the door of the cabinet may be reversed, i.e., theinside surface becomes the outside. This reversal feature is easily andsimply accomplished by removing the door, turning it over so that theformer inside is on the outside. The door is then easily replaced on thehinges.

The arrangement is highly beneficial for preformed, knocked-down cabinetassemblies, easily assembled and installed by semi-skilled labor.However, when positioning the cabinet portion of the assembly onto thewall of the structure on which it is mounted, difiiculty is frequentlyencountered in properly aligning the door due to uneven walls andtwisting of the cabinet to conform thereto. This is particularly true inwooden cabinets or the equivalent. The door for such misaligned cabinetsgenerally cannot be properly aligned since the hinges are preplaced andthe door will not square with the cabinet opening. Since hinges aresecured to wooden members by wood screws, substantially no play isobtained in such hinges once attached, and a prehung door only fitsdistorted cabinets by chance. Also, particularly in the case of wood,drying and/or moisture may cause warping.

The reversible door cabinet and cabinet hinge of the invention providesimple means for aligning the doors with out-of-true cabinets; and thedoor of which is inclusive of attractive and utilitarian means forholding the door closed in either of its reversed positions andproviding a door pull.

Briefly, the reversible door cabinets of this invention include aninsert, preferably metal, on each side of the door positioned to beregistered with latching means included in the cabinet frame, when agiven door side is facing inward. Both inserts are adapted to receiveand maintain a knob and/ or a latching device complementary to that inthe cabinet. The hinge of the cabinet is provided with a novel attachingplate providing fast and easy adjustment. The particular attachment ineither face is determined by the position of the door.

Therefore, it is among the objects and advantages of my invention toprovide simple and inexpensive means for rapidly aligning cabinet doorswith out-of-true cabinets; and cabinet doors which include means formaintaining the door in a closed position regardless of doorpositioning. The hinge of the invention provides door aligning meanswhen the wall upon which the cabinet is mounted causes distortion of thecabinet; and which parts are simply and easily installed without the useof special tools. Furthermore, it is an additional object and advantageof my invention to provide means by which the door is maintained closedor handles provided for opening by simple and effective devices readilyinstalled by unskilled persons and are easily operated and used by suchpersons.

Other objects and advantages will become readily apparent from thedescription set forth hereafter with reference to the appended exemplarydrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a cabinet door showing interchangeablemeans for maintaining a cabinet door closed and a door pull according tomy invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of a cabinet with its door in its openposition inclusive of my novel attaching plate;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged detail in partial section of the reversible hingeand attaching means according to the invention;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged detailed section through 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged plan detail of the latching plate of FIGS. 2, 3and 4; and

FIG. 6 is a modified arrangement using a conventional spring retainedcabinet latch.

Before describing the drawings in detail, I wish it understood that theyare merely indicative of one manner of practicing my invention and I donot desire to be limited thereby, but rather by the scope of thehereafter appended claims.

In FIG. 1 a cabinet frame portion 10 and an adjacent door portion 11 areshown in a closed configuration, the door seating generally against theframe. The cabinet portion 10 includes magnetic means 12, which is shownin dashed lines, inserted in the frame and positioned essentially flushwith the frame. The door 11 includes two similar threaded metal inserts13, one on each side or face of the door. When the door is closed, asshown in FIG. 1, one of the metal inserts 13 (that on the inner doorside) is registered with and under the holding influence of the magneticfield of element 12 of the cabinet. The outer metallic insert 13 isshown as internally threaded and adapted to receive the externallythreaded stern portion of a door pull 14. The drawings show' the insertsas being internally threaded which is one preferred embodiment. However,other attachment means may be used within my inventive concept.

That is, although the drawings have shown internally threaded metalrecesses for cooperation with a magnet mounted in the cabinet frame,other means are considered within my inventive concept. Such other meansmay be any form of cabinet latching device, one portion of which may bemounted in the cabinet and the other portion of which is adapted to bereleasably mounted in the door inserts. Thus, a single knob or pullmeans and a single portion of a latching device are both adapted to bereleasably mounted in the inserts, and one to be reversed when thecabinet door is reversed and accomplish the desired functionaccomplished by the magnet and metallic inserts. A conventional latchmeans for the reversible door is shown in FIG. 6, where a springretainer 31 is attached to the cabinet frame it), and a headed latchmember 30 is threadedly engaged by the insert 13 mounted on the insidedoor face. The door pull 14 is threaded into the other insert 13 on theoutside door face. On reversing the door, the positions of the headedlatch member and door pull are switched so that the latch means is onthe inside face and the door pull is on the outside face.

FIG. 2 shows a reversible door cabinet according to my invention, whichis inclusive of a novel latching or enemas hinge supporting plate whichis shown in more detail in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5. Essentially, the reversibledoor cabinet consists of a cabinet frame and a door 11 shown in openposition. The latching plate assembly is generally indicated in dashedlines by reference character and as being mounted by suitable means suchas screws 26 into the cabinet frame below the extension portion 4a ofthe hinge 21.

FIGS. 3 to 5 show the hinge and mounting arrangement in detail. A hingeplate 4 having an extension 411 is mounted on a main attaching plate 25.The main attaching plate is held on the frame portion 10a of the cabinet10' by such as wood screws 26 with enlarged openings 27 over a recess 29in the cabinet frame. Beneath the attaching plate in the recess 29 is alocking plate 28. The openings 27 in plate 25 are enlarged in relationto hinge attaching screws 22, the purpose of which will become apparenthereafter. Hinge attaching screws 22 pass through the enlarged openingsof the attaching plate into engagement with plate 28. The recess 29 isof a size sufiicient for reception of the locking plate and the ends ofscrews 22.

In operation, after the cabinet has been mounted on the wall and thedoor hung thereon by hinges 21, the inserts 13 must be brought intoregister with the magnet (or other latching means) 12 in the cabinetportion. To assure that the door insert 13 is in register with themagnet 12, as well as to assure proper alignment of the door with thecabinet 10', the screws 22 are loosened in the locking plate 27loosening the hinge extension 4a. The door is then manually adjusteduntil it squares with the cabinet opening in proper aligned position.The enlarged holes 27 allow limited movement of the door relative to thecabinet in a plane parallel to the front of the cabinet, but suflicientto allow the desired alignment. After the proper alignment is achieved,the screws 22 are threaded into the locking plate 27 thereby firmlysecuring the hinge extension 4a and the door 11' to the cabinet. Theopenings 27 need not be extremely large since a rather small movement atthe hinge results in a large angular displacement of the outer edge ofthe door.

Having thus described the manner of practicing my invention, what Idesire to be protected by Letters Patent is set forth in the followingclaims.

I claim:

1. In a reversible door cabinet including a cabinet portion and a doorportion adapted for reversible placement over the open side of thecabinet portion, the improvement comprising a first latching meansrecessed in said cabinet portion, a pair of identical insert portionseach recessed in opposite sides of said door adapted to receive andreleasably engage a door pull When on the outside face of the door andprovide second latching means complementary to said first latching meanswhen on the inside face of the door, each insert arranged forregistering relation with said first latching means recessed in thecabi- 4. net portion when the respective sides of the door face thecabinet.

2. In a reversible door cabinet including a cabinet portion and a doorportion adapted for reversible face placement over the open side of thecabinet portion, the improvement comprising a pair of magnetizablemetallic insert portions each recessed in opposite sides of said door,each said insert internally threaded and adapted to receive anexternally threaded stem portion of knob means, a magnet recessed insaid cabinet adjacent the open side thereof; each insert beingpositioned on its respective side for registering relation with saidmagnet recessed in the cabinet portion when the respective sides of thedoor face the cabinet and said other insert portion positioned as a doorpull with said knob means.

3. The combination with a cabinet having an opening of a door arrangedfor reversible face placement in covering relation to said opening, saiddoor being hingedly suspended for pivotal movement adjacent an edge, amember fixedly mounted in the frame of said cabinet adjacent saidopening and in position to substantially contact said door when coveringsaid opening, an insert on each side of said door and each positioned toregister with said member in said frame when either side of the doorfaces the cabinet opening with said other insert positioned as door pullmeans, latch means and door pull means selectively mountable in saiddoor inserts for providing said reversible door with a latch forcoacting with said member in said frame and a pull with either side ofsaid door facing the cabinet.

4. The combination with a cabinet having an opening of a door arrangedfor reversible face placement in covering relation to said opening, saiddoor being hingedly suspended for pivotal movement adjacent an edge, amagnet fixedly mounted in a lower portion of the frame of said cabinetadjacent said opening and in position to contact said door when coveringsaid opening, a metal insert on each side of said door each positionedto register with the magnet in said frame when either side of the doorfaces the cabinet opening, door pull means selec tively mountable insaid door inserts for providing said reversible door with a magneticlatch on one side of the door and a pull on the other side when eitherside of said door faces the cabinet.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,087,001 Johnson July 13, 1937 2,521,885 Vasquez Sept. 12, 19502,545,378 Peck Mar. 13, 1951 2,620,508 Goulooze Dec. 9, 1952 2,840,408Scott et al June 24, 1958 2,950,140 Stone Aug. 23, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS183,670 Austria Nov. 10, 1955

1. IN A REVERSIBLE DOOR CABINET INCLUDING A CABINET PORTION AND A DOORPORTION ADAPTED FOR REVERSIBLE PLACEMENT OVER THE OPEN SIDE OF THECABINET PORTION, THE IMPROVEMENT COMPRISING A FIRST LATCHING MEANSRECESSED IN SAID CABINET PORTION, A PAIR OF IDENTICAL INSERT PORTIONSEACH RECESSED IN OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID DOOR ADAPTED TO RECEIVE ANDRELEASABLY ENGAGED A DOOR PULL WHEN ON THE OUTSIDE FACE OF THE DOOR ANDPROVIDE SECOND LATCHING MEANS COMPLEMENTARY TO SAID FIRST LATCHING MEANSWHEN ON THE INSIDE FACE OF THE DOOR, EACH INSERT ARRANGED FORREGISTERING RELATION WITH SAID FIRST LATCHING MEANS RECESSED IN THECABINET PORTION WHEN THE RESPECTIVE SIDES OF THE DOOR FACE THE CABINET.